The European Union approved, after tense last-minute negotiations, a tenth package of sanctions against Russia in the final hours of the day that marked one year since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden, which holds the EU presidency, announced late in the evening.

“Together, EU member states have introduced the strongest and most extensive sanctions to date to help Ukraine win the war,” the EU Council presidency said on Twitter.

“The EU remains in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. We will continue to support Ukraine as long as it is needed,” the message of the Swedish presidency also states, News.ro reports.

The package includes export restrictions on dual-use goods, as well as measures against organizations that support war, spread propaganda or deliver drones used by Russia.

Insults at Poland: the European bloc risked not announcing sanctions at a symbolic moment

Thus, only two hours before midnight, EU countries finally managed to reach a consensus after objections from Poland. Warsaw complained that the proposed restrictions on Russian rubber imports into the EU included so many exceptions and such long transition periods that they would have no effect in practice.

Other EU countries were puzzled that Warsaw – one of Ukraine’s main sponsors – was jeopardizing the announcement of a deal over a single element of a wider package, while the European bloc risked not announcing sanctions at a symbolic moment, the anniversary of the Russian invasion.

“It’s very bad optics. The message of solidarity with Ukraine on this special day should have been important,” said a diplomat who participated in the negotiations, Reuters quotes.

• New EU sanctions against Moscow are considered “too soft, too weak” in Warsaw

Representatives of the 27 EU member states have been negotiating since the beginning of the week after the European Commission proposed the expected measures last week.

The EU says this 10th package of sanctions against Russia since the start of the war was designed to make it harder to finance the war and deprive Russia of technical equipment and spare parts for weapons used against Ukraine. Several individuals were also sanctioned, including Russian propagandists, those whom Kyiv considers responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, and those involved in the production of Iranian drones used on the front lines. Several banks, including the private bank Alfa Bank and the online bank Tinkoff, have been excluded from the global SWIFT system, all of which will result in a loss of more than 10 billion euros in trade between the EU and Russia.

The EU sanctions deal came after Britain, the US and Canada had already announced similar packages earlier in the day to punish Russia for the war that broke out a year ago. Also, the G7, a group of the strongest democratic economies, has taken steps to expand sanctions already in place.

Read also:

• A new wave of US sanctions: what the Americans announced a year after the start of the invasion
• The USA announced sanctions against dozens of Russian officials and propagandists, including TV presenter Olga Skabeeva / Nuclear and mining companies are also on the list

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